still not eating – vent!

My son never ate more than 16 – 18 ounces of breast milk or formula per day until he was about 8 months old. He gained weight steadily and was fine with that little intake. Some babies just don’t need as much as others. Even my first born who had no reflux or digestive issues only ate 22-25 ounces per day on average. So, 24 ounces really sounds fine. Even less would probably be ok. If they are gaining weight steadily I would’t worry about their intake.

Are they comfortable and pain free?

My daughter has had a severe feeding aversion since two months old. Since that time, she has only taken bottles by sleep feeding. In fact, between 2-10 months she was taking no solids other than those bottles. She’s never taken more than 12-20 ounces a day, on average 15-16, and that was reluctant. But thankfully, by some grace from above, she did manage to gain weight. We have had to feed her at night to keep her weight up, and this has unfortunately continued. But we’ve done what we had to do to keep her thriving. I actually have a different take on this than others, but my personal opinion is that even though they may be gaining, it is not okay. I mean the volume is fine, that’s not the issue. But babies should be able to eat… they should like eating, and it shouldn’t hurt. Beware that forcing can lead to an all around feeding aversion (not to scare you). We never forced Hailey, but we were persistent, and she developed a feeding aversion anyhow. My feeling is that if they can’t eat comfortably, it’s best to get help for it now. We were always told that things were fine because Hailey was gaining, but imo there’s more to being fine than just gaining weight. What do they do when you try to feed them? Is it arching, turning away, crying, pulling off, etc? If we had found the right help early on, then we might not be in this situation now. I would suggest trying to find someone who takes your babies issues seriously. The doc should have more to offer than “you seem to know what you’re doing, so…”. Have they had any testing done? Perhaps they might do better on a different med? Just throwing thoughts out there. I can’t remember how old your twins are, and I can only fathom how hard it is dealing with this with two babies. I hope that you find someone who can help them soon. HUGS.